Friday, July 27, 2012

I still stand by my opinion that “Tigers Weekly” is
pointless, boring garbage. Thus, it should be replaced. My idea remains for a
weekly roundtable of people connected to Detroit Tigers baseball discussing
current events surrounding the team. The following is the second installment
imagining what that might be like.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

As I’ve now had two days to reflect on the big
Sanchez/Infante trade, one thing has become clear to me. And that’s that Dave
Dombrowski still has work to do.

We need another bat. I’ve said for a while that a corner
outfielder with some pop in his bat needed to be the Tigers’ top priority at
the trade deadline, not second base or a pitcher. I think the team was good
enough to win the AL Central without making the deal with the Marlins. And yes,
it did make them better and give them a better shot at making the World Series.
But it’s not enough.

Austin Jackson is fine in center. But the LF, RF, DH
combination of Quintin Berry, Andy Dirks, Brennan Boesch, Ryan Raburn, and
Delmon Young does not bode well when matching up in the playoffs against the
Rangers, Angels, and Yankees. Boesch and Young are too impatient, too hot and cold, and awful on
defense. Raburn is a lost cause at this point. Even I finally admit that. Dirks
is unproven and not guaranteed to continue his hot start. And Berry, while a
fast runner with the heart of a lion/unicorn hybrid, has come back to earth
hitting .226 in July and .133 in the past week.

Again, I feel this team takes the AL Central easily barring
any serious injury issues. But you can’t count on 2011 Victor Martinez riding
into town to save the day. Another move needs to be made if they want to win it all. As I was preparing to
write this today, I saw that Lynn Henning wrote something similar for the News.
After being completely horrified for a while that Lynn and I were on the same
page for the first time since the Granderson trade, I couldn’t help noticing that while Henning had a similar idea, he
offered no solutions.

That’s where we differ. With the additional Wild Card team
this year, everyone says there’s less selling teams in 2012. Well, there are
eleven teams (only three from the AL) that are ten or more games back in their
divisions. I’m confident in saying they’ll be selling if they’re smart. The
Tigers need a corner outfielder, preferably one that bats right-handed. Here’s
a look at those teams and the potential trade targets on each.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard about the trade. The Tigers dealt Jacob Turner, Rob Brantly, and Brian Flynn to the Marlins for Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez. The teams also swapped compensation picks, with the Fish getting the Tigers pick after the 2nd round and Detroit getting Miami’s one after the 1st.

At first, I wasn’t sure how to feel about the deal. I had become infatuated with the idea of prying James Shields and possibly Ben Zobrist from Tampa in a similar trade. But the more I look at it, the more I understand and like it.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

There’s nothing quite like watching your baseball team when they are hotter than Kate Upton posing next to a case of beer and a plate of bacon. Yet some people are never satisfied. A guy came into the bar yesterday with a Tigers hat on. I got him a drink and said something about the team overtaking first place.

“Yeah. But they’re not going to keep it without getting a second baseman. Ryan Raburn is terrible.”

Never mind that Ramon Santiago and Danny Worth have seen the majority of the time there lately because, yeah, Raburn is awful this year. Never mind that the team is streaking and has taken claim of the AL Central. No, people are STILL hung up on second base, as if it’s the most important offensive position on the baseball diamond. And what topped it off is when he told me who he wanted the team to get. And it’s a thought I’ve seen repeated over and over by Tiger fans the past couple months.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Tigers are in the middle of a pennant race approaching the trading deadline. Yet somehow I find myself becoming more and more detached from this team in 2012. Maybe it has to deal with the losses of Magglio Ordonez and Victor Martinez. Maybe it’s the growing number of irrational and/or suddenly entitled feeling Tiger fans that are popping up everywhere. I can’t really fully explain it, but I think a big part of it lies in the fact that I really don’t care for the majority of the players on the team this year.

Sure, Cabrera, Jackson, Verlander, Scherzer, Victor, and Coke are favorites of mine. And I have that weak spot in my heart for the hapless Raburn. But the rest of the guys, to be honest, I wouldn’t be heartbroken if they left Detroit tomorrow. This is something new to me and I’m not sure I like it.

That being said, with the exception of Ryan Raburn, there are two guys that have drawn the ire of the fans possibly more than anyone else this year. Those guys are Delmon Young and Brennan Boesch. And with the rumor mill circulating talk of the Tigers acquiring a corner outfielder by July 31st, one of these two may be out of a job.

But who stays and who goes? How does one possibly make such an important decision? Easy.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

After a break from complaining about the Tigers, probably because they were playing well, Bill Simonson is back with his latest offering of the finest in babbling nonsense one can find concerning the Detroit Tigers.

It is titled “Detroit Tigers must consider trades to upgrade, make run at AL Central and World Series”. Catchy, huh? This was chosen over the initial headline of “Ryan Raburn is a doodiehead and let’s talk about unrealistic trades that won’t happen”.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Ahh, the MLB All-Star Game. It’s the contest that the
players and managers don’t take seriously, even though home field advantage in
the World Series is on the line because Bud Selig is stupid. It’s a glorious
time.

And the week is off to a good start with Nick Castellanos
winning the MVP of the Futures Game and Prince Fielder taking home the Home Run
Derby title. With Prince and Miguel Cabrera playing tonight and our own Justin
Verlander as the AL’s starting pitcher, the Tigers are well represented this
week. And just think…Austin Jackson, Joaquin Benoit, and Brayan Villarreal all
had numbers worthy of the ASG, too. Not bad for a team that played like crap
most of the first half.

I thought I’d kick back and do a Keeping Score of the mid-summer
classic this year. As always when I do this, I warn you that this could turn
out really good or really bad. There’s little in between with these.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

As we hit the All-Star break, it’s inevitable that the 40 man roster will be changing in upcoming weeks as Dave Dombrowski makes some moves in an attempt to put the Tigers in a better position to win the AL Central. I thought now would be a good time to run through the roster and offer thoughts on each man.

The list is in the order of my personal preferences of each player. I’ll also include where the player ranked the last time I did one of these (2/19/12). And actually, with injuries, there are 43 players on the 40 man roster as of this writing. Since my opinions on some players change by the hour because I’m a moody psychopath, there are a couple big jumps in where guys appear.

I’d have had this up sooner, but the storms in the past week had knocked my internet out for days. I’m not complaining as many are still without power around here. Enough of that and onto the list…

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

A long time ago, before Jay Leno destroyed any reason to
watch, “The Tonight Show” was hosted by one of the most brilliant comic minds
in history, a man named Johnny Carson. One of his trademark bits that he
performed along with his always laughing sidekick Ed McMahon was that of “Carnac
The Magnificent”. It’s been ten months since we at DesigNate Robertson have
been dropped in on by our bastardized version of Carnac and it’s high time for
another visit.

Since I’m assuming 90% of my readers have no idea what I’m
talking about because I’m getting old, here’s a link to an old Carnac on
Youtube if you’re having trouble following along. I’d like to apologize to any longtime
readers if I recycle any old jokes. Like that’s anything new here…

Sunday, July 1, 2012

A while back, I came up
with the idea of a “Tigers Roundtable” show to replace the
boring, pointless “Tigers Weekly” that FSD features. I thought
I’d imagine such a roundtable show today to recap what I missed in
my week away from DesigNate Robertson.

Do Not Take This Blog Seriously.

The only thing I enjoy more than Detroit Tigers baseball is making fun of it and those that write about it. Most things you read here are meant in a humorous way. So do everyone a favor and lighten up. It's a joke. Oftentimes a bad one...

DesigNate Robertson was named after ex-Tiger pitcher, Nate Robertson and my hatred of his performances on the mound. He will be missed.

To those with an open mind and a sense of humor, I welcome you. Lets have some fun.